


I’ve never wanted normal with you

by Humbleapplecrumble



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Not Canon Compliant, Peraltiago, b99 - Freeform, easy reading, jake peralta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-09-13 05:48:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16886784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Humbleapplecrumble/pseuds/Humbleapplecrumble
Summary: “Rosa, I need to tell you something and you ca-“Rosa span on her heel the second she heard Amy’s voice. “You and Jake boned, didn’t you?”Jake and Amy wake up together with no recollection of how they got there. Being talented detectives, they each decide to follow the evidence to solve the mystery.Short non-canon story, Peraltiago get together, fluffy easy reading.





	1. Uh, morning?

Jake squeezed his eyes tighter as his consciousness began to force him awake in the morning light that sliced through the thin gaps in his bedroom blinds. His head swam and the repercussions of too much alcohol and insufficient sleep banged at his head. 

Mornings were never his thing: hangover or not. He strongly believed the whole world would function much more effectively if the working day started at lunchtime. He’d even bet that people would be so much happier that there’d be less criminals in the world. Regardless, Jake craved vengeance for whichever idiot that decided the world should spring into action at 9am. 

Jake wasn’t at all sure how he’d got into his bed and he’d no idea what time he’d arrived there, but he was too tired to be concerned about that now. The old, worn sheets were warm and comfortable over his skin and he rested contently in the pleasure that he didn’t need an alarm today; worries and being a grown up could wait for another day. 

He began to stir lazily, but immediately froze still. 

His movement was unexpectedly restricted. Jake Peralta was not alone in this bed. 

His eyes still closed, he took in the weight he felt on top of him, trying to gather evidence as subtly as he possibly could. A head lay on his shoulder, an arm across his chest. Nervously, he forced an eye open just a smidge. 

Dark, glossy hair. Soft, olive skin. 

Amy Santiago’s breath tickled his chest as her body rose and fell gently against his. 

At that point he noticed his right arm was tightly snaked around her body and his hand lay on her lower back. It might’ve even been her butt - he felt guilty even considering it. 

The resulting fact was that there was no escape. 

This was sure to be the most awkward wake up call Jake had ever had in his entire existence. He stared at the ceiling, ignoring Amy’s naked body as much as a human physically can when that body is sprawled on top of you, and tried hard to recall the most recent hours of his life, but to no avail. Nothing but hazy nothingness. 

With impeccable timing, as always, Amy roused from her sleep. Jake couldn’t see her eyes but her weight shifted slightly and her breathing slowed dramatically; he couldn’t help but wonder what on Earth was going through her mind. 

Amy gently lifted her head, leaning on her elbow to push herself upright. Using her right hand to pull the covers over her chest, she looked anxiously back at Jake. 

His face did not give her comfort. Instead, he mirrored her anxiety exactly. Clearly he wasn’t expecting this either. 

“Uh, morning?” Jake said quietly, having no other words anywhere to be found in his brain. It was well and truly empty.   
“Yeah, uh... Morning,” Amy murmured back with raised eyebrows and panic in her eyes. 

Desperate to break the eye contact with her partner, Amy glanced around the room. There were clothes everywhere; incredibly un-Santiago-like. She cringed at the sight of her bra on the floor and her jeans discarded over the end of the bed. She had no recollection of any of this happening and scolded herself for it. She knew better than to get this drunk and now she’d really messed up. 

This wasn’t just some guy. This was her friend. Her work colleague. Her partner. Amy’s mind was ready to explode with awkwardness as she considered the stupidity and impracticality of their actions. 

She brought her attention back to the bed where she was still entwined with Peralta. Her right leg was tucked over his so she yanked it back quickly. The sensation of their skin brushing against one another reminded each of them of the capacity of what had happened. 

This game had changed forever. 

Jake pushed himself to sit up in his bed, catching a glimpse of Amy’s hoodie on the floor by his side. Wanting to ease her discomfort, he carefully leaned over and grabbed it for her. 

“Here,” Jake gestured, “I guess that’s yours.” He tried to smile to break some of the tension but the look on his face only showed his uncomfort with this situation. 

Amy pulled it over her head hurriedly and scrambled around for the rest of her clothes, shoving her bra in the hoodie pocket. “I better go anyway, I, uh, I have a thing, so...”

Jake reflected her waffling. “Yeah, cool, cool, me too, a thing, I have laundry anyway and uh, you know, busy day...” he chimed, forcing a chirpy tone. 

Amy nodded quickly, pulling on her shoes. “Well enjoy your day then, Jake! Uh, Peralta! Bye, uh, yeah, bye!” she shouted awkwardly as she almost ran out of the door. 

Jake fell backwards onto his bed in self pity, throwing his palms over his eyes and rubbing them hard. He lay there motionless, though he didn’t know how long for. Minutes, hours, it didn’t matter anymore. 

Thankfully, the detectives were given the day off after their latest big drug bust; hence the intoxicating celebrations of the previous evening. Amy grabbed a cab straight back to her apartment where she showered away her shame and spent the day wallowing in her apartment, cleaning and organising as a distraction. She played the radio and the TV at the same time to drown out the voices in her head. It didn’t work. 

She’d had sex with Jake Peralta. 

Jake equally wallowed, gorging himself on movies and TV boxsets in the darkness of his bedroom. He hadn’t opened the blinds to let more light in, fearing that the harsh light of day would only make him more aware of what he had done. Instead he decided the most appropriate thing to do was play the denial game and lose himself in Game of Thrones. “It’s tomorrow’s problem. It’s fine,” his subconscious lied. 

Though every now and again his attention would be drawn to the other side of the bed. 

He’d had sex with Amy Santiago. 

Blocks apart, the pair of detectives repeatedly picked up their phones, half typed an apologetic text to the other and deleted it again, throwing the phone back down. Type, delete, repeat. 

Detectives Peralta and Santiago had been through a lot since they’d first met. Now they’d had sex. 

Oh. Dang.


	2. So we’re good, right?

The following morning Amy travelled to work an hour earlier than usual; she wanted to be as composed as possible when Jake arrived. She was useless at composure around her exes as it was, so had no idea how to act around her best friend and colleague after a drunken one night stand. This was not her comfort zone. 

By the time Jake entered the precinct Amy had absorbed two coffees and smoked three shame-cigarettes. Her hairs stood on end with a cocktail of caffeine, anxiety and adrenaline and she did not feel better for it. 

“Hey,” Jake said chirpily, throwing his bag by his desk.  
“Yeah, hey, hi,” Amy responded hurriedly, the pressure of sounding normal completely defeating her. Her tone was forced and high pitched.  
Jake’s acting skills were much stronger than Amy’s - that was one skill he knew he had up on her. “Do you need a coffee, or...”  
“No, thanks, no, I’ve had one. Thanks,” she babbled. 

Jake wandered to the kitchen before spinning on his heel. He couldn’t keep up this act of being cool up for longer than the whole minute he’d done already. He stormed back to Amy Santiago’s desk and tapped her on the shoulder. 

She instantly jumped out of her seat as if she’d been electricuted. “Wha-what?”  
Jake stared at her, wide-eyed. “Do you wanna, maybe...” he gestured towards the evidence lockup with a nod. 

No, no she did not. 

“Sure,” she agreed, faking a positive tone. 

She followed Jake to the lockup and shut the door carefully behind her after checking no one looked to be following. Jake paced left and right rapidly, trying to find the words to start this conversation. Amy’s feet stayed firmly glued to the floor. 

He finally stopped and bravely turned to look at his partner. He took a breath and hoped words would find him. 

They did not. 

Instead, the detectives stared at each other in silence. 

“Jake-I-need-you-to-say-something,” Amy blurted out quickly, her words connecting into one long terrifying noise. 

“I just... this is...” Jake uttered as he fiddled with his fingers, “...I don’t want things to be weird.”  
“Me neither,” sighed Amy. “I want things to go back to normal.”  
“Great, back to normal, that’s what I want,” Jake cheered. “So that’s it, we’re good, right?”  
“Right,” Amy stated.  
“Right,” he agreed.  
“Right.”  
“Right.”  
“...right.”

The detectives stood for the longest three seconds of their lives before simultaneously marching out of the room.

Detectives Peralta and Santiago spent the day avoiding eye contact at all costs. Their paperwork had never been so incredibly fascinating before. 

When she couldn’t take it anymore, Amy followed Rosa into the copier room. Jake followed her with his eyes until she was out of sight; it was a relief to look up from his desk. His neck was sore and stiff; he couldn’t remember the last time he’d relaxed his body. When he was positive she was gone, he stood up and walked towards the back corridor, grabbing Charles’ arm as he went passed. “Charles, I need you. Now,” he mumbled. 

In the copier room, Amy shut the door behind her and leaned her back against it for extra reassurance.

She breathed deep before finally letting it out. “Rosa, I need to tell you something and you ca-“  
Rosa turned around the second she heard Amy’s voice. “You and Jake boned, didn’t you?” she interrupted. 

Amy choked on her words. “I, no! Uh, how did you...” she panicked. Improvising was never her thing.  
Rosa rolled her eyes. “You’ve been so awkward with each other all day. It’s annoying. What’s the big deal?”  
“The big deal is we work together,” Amy stressed. “It’s a disaster. That’s not even the worst part... I can’t remember anything. I don’t think he can, either.”  
“Is that not your problem solved? There can’t be any awkwardness if neither of you even remember it.” Rosa knew this wasn’t true, but Amy needed calming down. 

“You were there that night, in the bar. Can you remember anything about it? When did we leave?” Amy pleaded.  
“Yeah. You left around ten thirty, we were all pretty bombed by then. You were fighting over which takeout place does the best pancakes so you decided to go try them both to prove each other wrong,” Rosa informed her. 

Amy shut her eyes and followed imaginary footsteps from the bar. “I’d definitely have taken us to that Polish place. I should call them and see if we made it there. Maybe they could tell us more.”

Rosa’s expression remained unchanged. “I can tell you what happened from right here. You spent the whole night flirting and giggling then left to bone. You’re obviously into each other - stop messing around with investigating and just do it again,” she suggested bluntly. 

Amy took a few seconds before she responded. “No, Rosa, that’s not it at all. We were drunk and stupid and it was a mistake, there’s nothing more to it than that,” she insisted nervously.  
Rosa nodded, a rare smirk escaping her lips. “Sure.”

On the other side of the precinct, Jake gestured towards the cleaning supplies cupboard and ushered Boyle inside, taking a quick look either side of the corridor before shutting them in. 

“Charles, I need your help,” Jake said urgently.  
Boyle’s face beamed at the prospect, his posture determined. “Anything, Jakey. What do you need, a hug? Massage? Sandwich?”  
“No! Listen, I screwed up. Big time,” Jake admitted.  
Charles’ face instantly showed grave concern. “Did you order pizza from Big Mike’s? You know it’s only the eleventh best in Brooklyn!”  
“Charles, focus!” Jake whispered as harshly as he could. “It’s me and Amy. We... had sex.” Jake’s eyes widened before breaking eye contact to look at the floor shamefully. This was the first time he had said it out loud and it only made the situation feel a million times worse. 

If Charles’ jaw could physically have hit the floor, it would have. “You and Amy?! Oh my god, oh my god. This is literally my dream come true, I’ve been telling you...”  
“Wait,” Jake interrupted. “It’s not like that. We were drunk. Super drunk. And, well, we can’t even remember it,” Jake mumbled. 

He was suddenly cut short by a quick slap to his right cheek. “Charles!”  
“What the hell are you doing?” Boyle cursed angrily. “That is not how this was supposed to happen. Drunk and no memory of it? No, no, no...”

The detectives fell silent for a moment while the gravity of the situation lingered in the storage cupboard. Charles raised both hands and pressed them against his forehead in despair. 

“We need to fix this. Now,” Charles announced decidedly.  
Jake sighed. “I know. And I need your help to do it. I need you to be my partner on this case. If we find out more about what happened that night, maybe I can fix it.”

Boyle stood up confidently. “Yes, we can do this. Ok. First thing. Where did you end up?”  
“My place,” Jake responded promptly.  
“Ok, so, presumably you travelled there. Do you have a text from a cab?”  
Jake fumbled for his phone and scrolled through his texts, his expression lighting up as he saw it. “Yes! An Uber picked us up at 1:28am. You’re a genius, Boyle.”  
“I think you should ring the driver and ask him if he remembers anything from that night. Where he picked you up from, anything you talked about. This is a good lead,” Charles said cheerily. “We can crack this and before you know it I’ll be reading my speech at your wedding.”  
“Ugh, Boyle...” Jake moaned. He stopped himself; his friend had been helpful. Charles only ever wanted the best for him and he probably knew more about Jake’s stupid feelings than he knew himself. 

As the clock struck 5pm, detectives Santiago and Peralta left the precinct in search of answers. One took the elevator, one took the stairs, and neither uttered a word to each other.

This was a case that needed to be solved for the sake of their sanity. They were never - ever - drinking again.


	3. “Of course, don’t you remember? You were here with your boyfriend!“

Much to Jake’s dismay, the Uber driver hadn’t picked up and the office promised to call him back when his shift started. He felt defeated before his quest had even begun. 

He decided to rake through his phone since that was where he found his first clue. No photos, no texts; not even anything in his search history. He began to give up hope when his phone burst into life. It rang with an unrecognised number. 

Jake answered cautiously. “Hello?”

“Is this Peralta? It’s Teddy. Wells.”

Words evaded him; this could not be good. “Uh... hi, man?”

“I’ve been meaning to call you after the message you left the other night. Well, I’m assuming it was you on Amy’s phone?” Teddy’s tone was dull - this was the sound of an unimpressed man. 

“Look, I’m sorry about that, we were drunk, I don’t even remember...” Jake scrambled. 

“Whatever, Jake,” Teddy interrupted. “You’re always the source of our problems. Anyway, I dropped off Amy’s hoodie in the lobby of her building like you asked. Tell her to delete my number,” he concluded bluntly before hanging up.

Staring at the phone screen, Jake pondered Teddy’s words and discussed it with himself. Had he caused problems between them when they were together? Amy had never mentioned it, although he knew that he and Amy spent an inordinate amount of time together and that probably was undesirable for any boyfriend involved. Maybe it did cause problems. 

Oops. 

*

Amy made her way to her favourite pancake restaurant, chewing her lip as she pulled up outside. She almost didn’t want to ask for fear of what they might say. 

She opened the door nervously and the cashier greeted her cheerily, clearly recognising her. She smiled broadly. “Ah, Amy! Back so soon? Hot chocolate?”  
Amy gave a forced laugh. “No, thanks, uh, yeah, I’m back! Actually, I wonder if you could help me... You saw me on Tuesday, is that right?”  
A lady with the name badge “Julia” gave her a confused look. “Of course, don’t you remember? You were here with your boyfriend! He’s very handsome,” she cheered.   
Amy was taken aback. “No, no, he’s not my...” she shock her head; this wasn’t a point worth stressing. “Anyway, do you know if we mentioned where we were heading to next?” she asked optimistically. 

“Actually yes - you said you wanted to go out to drink, although I think you’d done plenty!” Julia laughed.   
Forcing another chuckle that definitely sounded fake, Amy replied, “A drink? Do you know where?”  
Julia paused for a moment, searching her memories. “You talked for a while in here but I didn’t hear much. I do remember you saying something about a bar - The... something-House?”

Amy wasn’t familiar but was grateful for the help. “Thanks so much, I really appreciate it,” she urged.   
“You’re welcome. See you soon! Hopefully with your new boyfriend! You make a beautiful couple,” Julia smiled.   
Amy felt her cheeks turn hot pink with embarrassment. She could hardly bring herself to say anything; this had been humiliating enough. “Bye.”

Slumping back in her car, Amy googled: “The House + Bar + Brooklyn.” A list appeared before her with a number of options, so she planned her route to each one, praying she might find her dignity along the way. 

*

Jake drove aimlessly around familiar streets, clinging to the hope of inspiration. When none came, he pulled up at a coffee shop. As he usually did, Jake pushed his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket and fiddled with whatever random objects were hidden inside them. There was always something unexpected in there. 

He fumbled around before feeling something familiar. 

Reciepts. 

Jake stopped in his tracks and pulled out the various bits of paper from his jacket, searching for the late hours of Tuesday and early hours of Wednesday morning. 

Laser tag, Big Mike’s pizza (x 3), sneakers, movie tickets, coffee, rollerskates, sandwich... all dated prior to the drunken incident. 

Finally he found what he was looking for. 

A receipt stating Jake had spent $3.45 in a 24hr DIY store at 12:19 in the early hours of Wednesday. 

Bingpot. 

*

Amy had so far tried two bars and had no luck. The bartenders and waitresses didn’t recognise her and neither seemed in any way familiar. The next bar on the list was a place called “The Bell House”, a large bar with a sign outside advertising nightly live music. Amy felt a tingling in her stomach but couldn’t desipher whether it was an inkling of familiarity or a sickness of finding nothing. 

When she entered, a bartender shouted. “Amy! Great to see you! Where’s Jake?”   
A group of local men turned from their stools. “Hey!” some of them shouted. 

This was the place. 

“Hey... uh, this is actually a little embarrassing... we were here on Tuesday, right?”

The customers at the bar shared stories about the singing and dancing that had gone on late into the night. Unable to join in, she simply smiled politely and nodded at the correct times. Eventually, the bartender agreed to let her into the office to take a look at the security tapes. 

“You won’t see much from in here, but it shows a clear view of the street by the entrance to the bar. We always open it when the bands start. You were both out there for a while, so it should tell you somethin’.”

Amy thanked him profusely and got comfortable in the desk chair, fast forwarding through the footage until she noticed a familiar leather jacket. 

The greyscale people on the screen that very much appeared to be the two usually composed detectives from the ninety ninth precinct skipped into the street from inside the bar among a group of other drinkers. The entrance was made up of a sliding door that opened right out onto the pavement. 

Amy watched the figures twirl each other round among the strangers that seemingly weren’t so strange that night. She watched them wrap their arms around each other and laugh as they sang to whichever song was projecting from the pub into the Brooklyn streets. 

She watched the figure that looked very much like Jake lift the figure that looked very much like Amy and spin her round like they hadn’t a care in the world. 

She watched the figures stumble and struggle to find balance, leaning against each other to find their feet. She watched the figures stopping, looking at each other and locking fingers with the other. 

And she watched the figures get closer, closer until their lips met in the middle. 

Amy paused the security footage and stared. 

*

The receipt from Jake’s pocket only showed an item number so Jake had travelled to the store to see if they could identify it. Sure enough, they were happy to oblige. 

“That’s a code belonging to a battery. It’s a CR2032, usually used for watches. It fits a huge range of models,” the cashier said helpfully. 

“A watch?” Jake murmured. He pushed the cuff of his jacket a little higher to get a better look at his wrist, where his father’s watch stared back at him. 

The watch ticked quietly, almost silently, just like any watch would. 

Except this watch hadn’t ticked in a long, long time. 

Jake unbuckled it from his wrist and handed it to the man on the counter. “Think it’d fit this?”  
Spinning it over for a closer look, the cashier nodded. “Yep, I’d put a bet on that battery being right there.”

Jake thanked him for his help and returned to his car, holding the watch in his hand and replaying his tormented childhood over in his mind - something he usually tried to avoid doing. 

When Jake’s Dad left, he disappeared without a trace. Left his belongings and bolted - including his favourite watch. Seven-year-old Jake had kept it for himself with the idea of keeping it safe until he came back. When it stopped ticking, his hopes of seeing his Dad again also came to a halt. 

He’d never stopped wearing it, but could never bring himself to buy a new battery. Somewhere inside he knew he was still that scared kid who was waiting for his dad to return. Buying a new battery made him feel like it was no longer that same watch that ticked when his family was still whole. 

Now, in the silence of the car, the tick-tick-ticking seemed louder than ever. 

He’d never told anyone that story. 

But maybe that night he told Amy Santiago. 

*

Amy sat in the drivers seat of her car, tapping at the steering wheel with the heating humming gently. She couldn’t get the image of Jake and her out of her mind. It was like watching completely different people, yet seemed so incredibly believable. The way her stomach tied itself into knots was telling enough. 

Although she’d never ever admit it, she’d imagined kissing Jake before. Actually seeing it was something else entirely. 

And although the footage was helpful, it had left her feeling at a dead end. It gave no clue of where they went next and no one from the bar could shed any light on the situation. That was it; she was stuck. 

She repeatedly fiddled with her phone, spinning it around in her fingers when she accidentally pressed the “photos” app. Sighing, she made to close it (she hated apps being unnecessarily opened) before freezing at the most recent photo. 

It showed only a blurry green mess, but she had no memory of it being there before. 

Clicking into the album, she strained her eyes to focus and pulled the screen closer to her face. 

There were a handful of blurry, evidently accidental pictures. But the first was not so blurry. 

In it she saw what was unmistakably Jake’s sneakers and behind it something that looked like a bench. 

And she knew exactly where it’d been taken. 

* 

Jake promised himself to change the tone of his phone to something more calming when he jumped out of his skin once again to it ringing in his hand. He was filled with relief when he saw it wasn’t Teddy this time. 

“Hello?”  
“Good evening Mr Peralta,” a woman’s voice chimed. “I’m calling you from Uber regarding your journey on Tuesday. You enquired about where you were picked up from, is that correct?”  
Butterflies flew round Jake’s stomach at the prospect of another lead. “Yeah, that’s right, have you got it?”  
“Yes, sir. We picked you and a friend up at Brooklyn Bridge Park.”

Of course. 

Jake thanked the lady and hung up, immediately tuning on the engine and making his way towards his favourite spot in the city. 

*

Amy’s heart skipped a beat when she realised she knew exactly where the photograph was taken. A park she’d been to a thousand times before with her grandfather; she must have dragged Jake there as part of their drunken adventure. 

Not sure what she’d find but having no place left to go, she left immediately and made for the place that held many fond memories for her. 

The night had become cold and dark by the time she arrived and the frosty air stung her cheeks. She pulled her coat tighter as she wandered along the path, surrounded by the soft orange glow of street lights. 

What she didn’t expect to see, sitting on the very bench she was aiming towards, was Detective Jake Peralta.


	4. “I’d wanna remember it. All of it.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The detectives sat quietly, listening to the cars drive by and watching pedestrians wandering along the path, relaxation washing over them for the first time that day.

“Jake?”  
Surprised to hear a voice in the darkness, Jake stood quickly to look back at her, a look of complete confusion on his face. “Amy?”

For the next few seconds, the detectives said nothing while they tried to piece together this strange jigsaw puzzle that was that drunken Tuesday night. 

Amy forced out her words, feeling she had to justify her presence. “I have a photo on my phone of us here. On this bench.” 

Jake glanced down at the bench and then back at her. “We came here? On Tuesday?”

Amy nodded, smiling both with exhaustion and the realisation that this situation was actually more funny that anything else. “Yeah, we were here,” she assured him. “Hang on,” she uttered, “if you didn’t know that, then why are you here?”

Jake slumped back down and gestured to the spot by his side. “Seat?”

She nodded once more, taking a place next to him and looked at her partner expectantly. Although she didn’t know how they’d arrived at this spot together, it was a relief to come to the end of this admittedly embarrassing expedition. 

“We fixed my watch,” Jake informed her, pulling at his jacket sleeve to show her its face.   
“You’re kidding! I’ve been nagging at you to put a battery in that thing for years,” she laughed. “What made you do it?”  
Jake smiled. “You, apparently,” he said softly. 

Amy stayed quiet, inferring that there must be more to this story. Jake took a breath before beginning to explain, as though he was reluctant to admit it, but he powered through. “I would never fix it because it belonged to my Dad.”

Looking at his face as he stared at the ground in front of them, Amy couldn’t help but feel guilty about the vast amount of times she’d complained about that watch.

Jake glanced across at her shyly - he could read her mind. 

“It’s fine, Ames. Honestly,” he smiled. 

After another pause, he continued to elaborate. “It started to come back to me, when I followed the trail to the DIY store... We went there together. You told me that I shouldn’t cling to the past, that things move forward. That I need to do things for me.”

Amy couldn’t help but be in awe of her colleague. It was rare she ever heard him speak so seriously, or even discuss his personal life at all. She felt a mixture of responsibility for not knowing about this vulnerability sooner, and honour that he was confining in her now. Either way, she felt closer to him than ever before. 

She smiled as the memory began to reveal itself to her, triggered by his recall of that night. “I told you that you were better than him, right? That you’ll always be better than him,” Amy remembered, leaning an arm across his to run her thumb over the watch face, watching the hands tick as they should. 

Jake smiled at her and nodded slightly. “You did. And that’s why I came here. If I’m ever bummed out about my Dad, this is where I end up. He used to bring me for ice cream as a kid,” he informed her. 

Amy smiled at their similarities. They had so much in common and had never truly realised it.

He elbowed her softly. “Thanks,” he murmured.   
“For what?”   
“Making me do that. Or should I say, thanks to Five-Drink Amy for making me do that. I’m assuming it was her confidence that pushed me into it,”   
Amy chuckled. “Yeah, I guess so. Well, on her behalf, you’re very welcome.” 

The detectives sat quietly, listening to the cars drive by and watching pedestrians wandering along the path, relaxation washing over them for the first time that day. 

Jake usually felt foolish if he ever opened up, but tonight he actually felt as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Sitting here next to Amy Santiago; his beautiful and incredible partner (or whatever they wanted to call it now), he knew that life was actually pretty good. For all the bad things he’d endured in his life, he had some damn good things to consider too. 

“Well, I have a question for you now,” said Amy quizzingly.   
A shot of concern emerged on Jake’s face. “Yeah?”  
“Why did we go dancing?” she chuckled. 

Jake’s crinkled forehead and wide eyes were proof enough that he had clearly not unearthed this piece of evidence. “Dancing?”  
Amy looked at Jake and smiled. “Yeah, dancing. We were at a bar that has live bands on every night. We danced in the street!”  
Jake burst out laughing. “I do not remember that, but that’s awesome,” he admitted. “That was definitely my idea, it has Jake Peralta written all over it.”  
Amy laughed and nodded in agreement. “I’m kinda bummed I don’t remember it. No one’s ever taken me dancing before,” Amy sighed.   
Jake furrowed his eyebrows and looked at her, taken aback. “Why has no one ever taken you dancing? Who the heck have you been dating?”

An imaginary light bulb switched on like a bolt of lightening as they simultaneously cracked the case of the street dancing.   
“That’s why we went dancing!” they both chimed. 

“I wanted to take you because no one else had bothered to,” Jake smiled. “I have total de ja vu right now,” he laughed.   
“At least some things are coming back,” Amy said optimistically.

“While we’re remembering things, I should tell you, Teddy dropped your favourite hoodie back at your place tonight,” Jake informed her happily.   
“What? How?”  
“Apparently I called him from your phone and left a message. He was thrilled about it,” Jake said sarcastically, bursting out laughing at the thought. 

Amy covered her eyes with her palms. “Oh my god, we are total jerks!” She replied, unable to keep a serious tone. “Thank you, though. I’ve wanted it for months. I was too scared to ask for it myself.”  
“Apparently I was not,” Jake smiled, raising his eyebrows cheekily. 

The pair sat in silence for the next minute, pondering this new information. A wave of ease washed over them as they finally felt comfortable in each other’s company after this bizarre couple of days. 

“Ames?”   
Amy looked at her partner with a soft smile in question of what he was going to say next.   
“I lied,” he finally admitted with a sigh.   
Amy’s heart plummeted in her chest, her comfort disappearing. “What did you lie about?”

“What I said earlier. I don’t want to go back to normal,” he said quietly, his face serious now. Amy continued to listen, still clueless as to what he was getting at. 

“I’ve never wanted ‘normal’ with you,” he rambled. 

Amy looked at him with wide eyes full of concern, but said nothing. 

He kept thinking out loud. “That morning I woke up with exactly what I’ve always wanted, but I don’t know how we got there,” he continued. “And if I was going to be lucky enough to spend the night with you,” he paused and took a breath, “I’d wanna remember it. All of it. Dancing and all,” he smiled, turning to look into her eyes. Those eyes that had driven him crazy since the day he’s known her. 

Amy looked at her partner with crashing emotions of relief, nerves and love. “Me too,” she replied, her smile fully restored. 

After a few seconds of silence, Amy thought out loud. “Can we forget this? And I mean really forget this, and just start again instead?”  
Jake smiled softly at his partner. “I would love that. Where do we start?”  
“Pancakes,” Amy insisted. “Good ones. I proved they were the best the other night but I don’t think our drunken state really appreciated them.”  
Jake grinned - he had no idea they’d been for pancakes but couldn’t care less - and pushed himself up from the bench in agreement. “Lead the way!”

The pair began to meander along the path towards the streets of Brooklyn. Jake anxiously reached his hand by Amy’s and slid his fingers between hers gently, as coolly as he could. She took it gladly and gushed as she felt him running his thumb up and down the side of her hand.

Excitingly new. Strangely familiar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to post - Christmas holidays have had the better of me!   
> You’re all truly wonderful. <3

**Author's Note:**

> Haven’t written anything in a while! Got the idea from that photo of Jake and Amy in bed together after their first date - who doesn’t love that pic right?  
> Sending love to you whoever/wherever you are :) x


End file.
